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Chapter 55
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"This one." She said again. He tried to perceive it but he didn't get it.
"What?"
"The mirror..."
She looked confused. He just realized she was showing an oak frame mirror carved with leaves and acorns to him.
"What do you think?"
It took a long while for him to recover from the momentary lapse.
"Lovely. I'll take this one."
He took the mirror from her and pretended to scrutinize it.
"Thanks for your help. Really appreciate it."
"You're welcome."
She felt a bit nervous after the awkward situation a moment ago, so she made an excuse for leaving.
"I have to go back to the inn now."
"Where are you staying?"
"Magnolia Inn. And you?"
"You won't believe it."
He couldn't tell if Heaven was trying to give him a sign or put him into the test over and over again. Either way, he wouldn't miss this chance. If it was a sign, he would follow the guidance, otherwise he would just test his limit.
"Seriously?" She looked at him in disbelief.
"How curious."
"Let me walk with you to the inn." He said unexpectedly.
"That... that would be inappropriate."
She was quite taken aback by his invitation.
"We are in a strange place. Nobody knows who we are."
He was right. Nobody would care about it here.
"All right."
She said before she had the time to think twice or change her mind.
As they walked out of the shop, she stole a glance at him. A man like him was like a bird of prey in the sky, beautiful yet far beyond her reach. She could only admire him from a distance. But now when he was so close, walking by her side, talking to her, with no one else between, she could pretend that he was all hers.
"The greatest moments in life come unexpectedly." her mother once said. "You cannot plan them, they catch us, they seize us, not the other way around."
Just like this time, and why wouldn't she let it seize her?
Ava noticed that he didn't offer her his arm as gentlemen usually did to their female acquaintance. Perhaps it was a little reminder of her place even in this stolen moment. But she wouldn't let it bother her.
"I doubt you will ever be able to escape people's notices everywhere you go, but here you don't need to worry about their opinions and judgements."
She said after some time, fully aware of some curious stares following them all along.
"Exactly."
It seemed that he really enjoyed the momentary freedom.
"It feels good to be just another nameless face in the crowd. To be seen with no expectation."
His answer got her thinking.
"I suppose it's not easy to be someone like you. All the needs to comply with the requirements and to meet people's expectations all the time..."
She observed him with eager curiosity.
"Is this a kind of life that you want?"
"It doesn't matter what I want. My life is not my own to do as I please. There are many things to consider and there are my family and my people to do right by."
From his answer, she was certain that he was taught to live with an attitude of self-sacrifice. She remembered when she asked him how he felt about his uncle's order to eliminate the villains. She remembered perfectly he said something like this.
'Like it or not, somebody has to do it.'
"Don't you think it's burdensome to have to meet the approval of someone else in everything you do?" She asked again.
"It's the consequences of being in my position. I've found a way to cope with requirements and demands at an early age."
"Have you ever imagined how does it feel to live another life that is totally different from your life now?"
"What do you mean another life?"
"I ofttimes wondered would I be happier if I were someone else, if I did different things... Just imagine if you were free to choose, what would you do with your life?"
He was silent for a long while, she started to think she had crossed the line.
"I think I'll be a painter and travel around the world to learn from the world's greatest artists."
The moment he said it, it surprised him to realize just how much similarities between him and his father. What he wanted was just exactly what his father did. But there was a huge difference between them. He didn't let passion overtake him. He made different choices.
"If you were given the chance, would you choose a life of your own free will
over your life now?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I believe this is for the best."
"For who?"
"For everyone... I wasn't born to this world out of my own free will. I was born because of the will of my parents and my family. There's a purpose for my existence, and it is more important than my own aspiration. I have to carry out my duties. If I just leave to pursue my own passion, there will be severe consequences not only for me, it will impact on many people, many things..."
Both of them lost in their own deep thinking. She thought of how very different he was from Magnus. Magnus was free-spirited, he was not constrained by social convention, and when it came to his passion, nothing could hold him back. Magnus wouldn't let something like obligation or responsibility to his family burden him, let alone stopping him from pursuing what he really wanted.
Ahead of them, suddenly a boy in ragged, dirty clothes dashed from the opposite side of the street, colliding with a well-dressed country gentleman on his way.
Ava startled when Ashton snatched the boy as he rushed past them, knocking something out of him. A chain watch fell on the ground. The boy's face went pale, and he tried to run off, but a steely grip in his hand held him in place. Ava watched in consternation as he spun the boy around so the little pickpocket stood with them facing the same direction. The poor boy flinched in distress. Looking at how thin the boy was, she couldn't help feeling a great pity for him. His bones stuck out and his dirty face looked gaunt.
"Wait, please....." She put a hand on his arm.
"Sir." Ashton called the gentleman.
"You dropped something."
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Oh, dear. He didn't care about it.The man turned toward them and looked down at the ground immediately. He groped beneath the fabric of his pocket reflexively as he saw the chain watch lying on the ground.The boy's eyes widened in fear, his mouth gaped open. The boy waited in pure terror, but the man who captured him said nothing more.The older gentleman glanced at the urchin in suspicion."Thank you, sir."The man didn't shift his gaze from the boy as he came near and bent down to pick the chain watch. He studied them in silence for a while before asking."Tell me, sir. Did that monkey try to steal it?"The boy suddenly quivered in his hand. Ava glanced at him, catching her breath.
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Her cheeks turned rosy and she avoided to meet his eyes."Here." He passed the basket of roses to her."Thank you." She said as she took it, suddenly feeling awkward and a bit embarrassed."Not at all." He said. "I bought it only to make the girl happy."Even though it was so, but she felt like she was caught in a beautiful dream. Strolling down the street with him in a fine afternoon, and he bought her a bunch of roses. Unbelievable. They said nothing as they sauntered along the way, in a companionable silence when words were no longer necessary, as if their minds talked to each other in a train of hidden thoughts.It was a beautiful dream indeed, so beautiful it was almost painful when it had to end. The sight of the seaside street where their inn located came into view. The dream receded into reality, and sh
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Magnus had everything he could only wish for, anything he could never have. Magnus was the one who had her heart. Magnus was the man she truly loved. Magnus had a little more freedom to do what he really wanted. He had a father and a mother who loved him unconditionally, and his parents loved each other as well. He had a real family.From the corner of his eye, he noticed his uncle was talking with his wife with a disapproving look. Despite the couple's relentless arguments every single day, somehow he knew, they couldn't live without each other. His uncle was a cold, calculating man, so it surprised him the first time he knew that his uncle didn't allow his wife to bear another child after her long, suffering hours of giving birth to Magnus. Aunt Cecily survived a dangerous loss of blood at the time and his uncle swore never to make her pregnant again. He wondered if he could have such a fortunate union with Selene.It was funny how a perso
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Beyond the massive rolling green grassland loomed Lord Waldorf's Elizabethan Palace. Three stories high, the mansion stood gloriously against the background of sheltering trees, faraway mountains and clear blue sky."Look, here we are at last! Beautiful, isn't it?"Lady Byrne opened the window and leaned out to have a better look. A sudden gust of wind blew her untied bonnets out of the window."My hat!!! Oh dear!"The hat flew by several yards away and caught in a branch of willow tree. Fortunately it trapped in the lower branch, the pink silk ribbon hanging down and rippling in the breeze."I'll get it."Ava alighted from the carriage after the lady ordered the coachman to stop. She rushed to the tree by the edge of the road. Ava stood on her tiptoes and stretched out to reach the hanging ribbon, but it was still too far. She tried again, once, twice, suddenly a leather-gloved hand ca
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She braced herself to look back at him. She knew certainly the purpose of this flirtatious game, and she was not the least bit interested in playing it. However, she didn't want to make a fuss, she had to get through it in the most unobtrusive manner."I am Miss Ava Banks of Evergreen Valley.""A beautiful name, although not nearly as beautiful as you.""Thank you, My Lord. Now if you'll excuse me~""Why hurry, Miss Banks? Do you have to go somewhere else?""Yes,"She thought of a more open space."I'd like to see the garden.""Ah, I have a fondness for gardens."A glint of mischief sparked in his eyes."Let me come along with you. There are so many interesting spots there I can show you."Her breath caught at the wicked promise implied in his polite words."I'm afraid I have to refuse your kind offer."
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"It's not like what you think..."She blurted without thinking and scurried down the trunk. She halted before him, looking up at him with racing mind, she couldn't decide what to say and how to begin."Leave."He said without sparing her a glance, looking straight at the man standing in the middle of the bridge. She had seen his eyes burning with fury, but she never knew those eyes could look that horrendous. Like eyes of a wolf stalking its prey. She sidestepped past him and hurried away.He had just arrived not so long ago, but he made it just in time to see her in the moment of surrender, her hands ceased to push and her body stopped resisting, before shaking in the devil's arms. He saw it all, though it lasted only a split second.He almost could see her mouth opened wider and took Blackthorne's evil tongue inside and su
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Standing alone with a flute of champagne, the Earl of Blackthorne inspected the large ballroom with his observant eyes. Ever since he stepped into the room, women competed for his attention. Some blinked slowly at him in subtle invitation, some flirted boldly with him, but he declined them all. At this moment, he wasn't interested to quench the burning needs with the ordinary and the mundane.Perusing the sea of faces, he found what he searched. The ballroom was full of lovely women, but he didn't need a magic mirror to tell who was the fairest of them all. Riveting his gaze on her, Blackthorne curled his fingers into fist in aching need.He was not accustomed to not getting what he wanted when women were concerned. Women of all ages and class hurled theirselves at him all the time. Whenever he needed one, women were always available, in a colossal amount that could surpass the king's harem, u
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Walking alone in the hallway to the music room, Ava was on full alert. The music room was quite far from the ballroom. To fetch the reticule, she had to pass the corridor, dashed up the empty stairway in fear of unexpectedly being caught by Lord Blackthorne once again. Once she found the reticule in the music room, she took it and rushed downstairs. Her footsteps echoed in the walls. Dim and silent, the side of the building was completely empty as the entire guests were gathering at the ballroom. Not even a servant passed by. She wondered if someone could hear her scream from here.When she scurried along the long corridor, suddenly she glimpsed a figure standing in the shade of an alcove. The man stepped out immediately, barring her passage. She almost shrieked in shock, but his pewter locks made her recognized him at once. For a second she was thankful to find it wasn't the man she feared for, but the relief last no longer than a heartbeat. He shot a crudely i
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Carrying the old, unsent letter in his hand, Ashton took a determined step to Lord Carlton's bedchamber. The door was left slightly opened, as to make it easier for the servants to hear if the lord rang the bell. He stopped in front of the doorway and peered inside. Through the narrow opening, he could see his uncle across the room, sitting on the wheelchair by the window, gazing out into the wintry garden outside."Do come in."The lord called without glancing his way. Despite the head injury, his uncle hadn't lost his usual alertness, and the wheelchair didn't make him look less forbidding. He was very fortunate the injury didn't cause him any permanent damage, and though he hadn't quite regained his normal strength until this day, the doctor said that he would no longer need the device in a couple of weeks.Lord Carlton turned in his wheelchair to face him as he entered the room."What is it?"His uncle
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For a moment, she was quite bewildered by his request, but then she realized, by asking her to do so, he was trying to be completely truthful to her, to share his darkest secrets with her, no matter how sordid and shameful they were, to let her see the ugly side of him and to trust her without reserve.She settled back into the chair and took the letter from his hand. She opened the envelope and unfolded the letter, clearing her throat before she started reading,"Dear Carlton,I hope you will understand why I choose this way. I can no longer carry on in this fashion. It's not that I don't love you enough to go on. No words can express how much I love you. I die a little inside each time I see you. You can't imagine how difficult it is for me, but we both know that this is the best for us. I know you can't desert your family, and I don't blame you, for I can never do that to my son eith
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Several hours later..."This is unspeakable. I can't believe it."Magnus' voice carried clearly across the hall. He turned around abruptly, wild sparks shooting from his eyes as he gazed furiously at the woman sitting in an armchair on the other side of the room."For Christsakes, why would you do this, Mother. How could you?"Lady Cecily stared into the void without so much as a word. Her eyes devoid of emotions, her refined feature as hard as granite.Sitting in a wheelchair pushed by a servant, Lord Carlton entered the parlor. Behind him are two of the guardsmen. Shooting a bitter look at his wife, he uttered with a composed voice."You'll be up before the magistrate to face the legal consequences of your crime. I've sent words to the authorities. The Constable will pick you up at first light."The lady took the notice with a pr
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With soundless steps, Ava sneaked her way to Lord Carlton's bedchamber. The door was slightly opened, allowing a shaft of light from inside the room to spill out into the dark corridor. Stopping by the doorstep, she peeked into the room through the small opening. In the middle of the large bed, the lord lay as white and still as death. A candle burned in the nightstand, casting a dim glow in the gloom of the chamber.Drawing a long, fortifying breath, Ava slipped into the chamber. Crossing the room, she moved around the bed and sat in the chair nearby, gazing regretfully upon the lifeless face.To have a death on her conscience was too great a burden to bear. Perhaps she was a fool to think that to confess her sin and beg forgiveness from the insensible victim would give her a little comfort, but she just couldn't help it."I'm so sorry, My Lord." She began."I thou
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There hadn't been much progress on Lord Carlton's condition the following day. He remained unconscious, only a faint pulse indicated there was life in there, yet it hung by a tenuous thread. In the morning, Doctor Haynes returned to check on him. Ashton asked him if there was any hope, and the doctor shook his head slightly in answer.In contrast to her dramatic reaction over Lord Carlton's condition the day before, Lady Cecily showed little interest in taking care of her husband. Instead, it was a loyal servant that had worked for the family for nearly fourty years who seemed to care deeply about him, feeding him with broth and water every hour, and applying soothing balm to his chapped lips. When she had finished her gentle ministrations, the old maid would kneel beside his bed and folded her wrinkled hands, praying for the master's recovery.Inside one of the sitting room in the secluded West Wing, Ashton stood gazing into the fire where
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Ava blanched upon hearing his oath. She'd never heard such ferocity in a person's voice. Quick to notice her sudden pallor, Ashton took her hand, murmured some excuse to Aunt Cecily and Magnus, and led her out of the room."Your hands are so cold," He looked down at her hand in his hold with concerned frown. Too overwhelmed with distress, she let him take her to her chamber upstairs."Nobody will know about it." He said once the door closed behind them, and when she remained mute, pale and cold with fear, he headed to the sideboard and poured a glass of brandy. He made her finish the drink in two long swallows, and took the empty glass from her trembling hand. Setting the glass in the nearest sideboard, he placed his hands on her arms, forcing her to look directly into his eyes."Listen, I've told the guards never to breathe a word about it to anyone. I'll replace them immediately. Don't be afraid, I won't let anything bad happen to y
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The next thing she knew, Ashton and the guardsmen already moved with mad haste to save Lord Carlton's life. By sheer luck, one of the guards had managed to get a wagon from a local farmer to bring the wounded lord home. She fixed the bandage and tried to slow down the bleeding, doing the best she could without further question, since the severity of the lord's injury left no time for explanation. Unfortunately the process of removing the lord from the building into the vehicle and the rough journey back home seemed to worsen his condition. Once they arrived home, a servant rushed to fetch the new doctor. During the wait, Ashton could hardly think of anything else. He was too distraught with fear, not certain Lord Carlton would survive another minute. Thankfully, within minutes the doctor arrived with his nurse."I'll do my best."Doctor Haynes promised before closing the door to Lord Carlton's bedchamber.
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It seemed like the matter was urgent and highly confidential, Uncle Carlton didn't even leave his name on the message. Pulling the top drawer, he slipped the note beneath the piles of documents and rushed out of the room.*****By the time Ava returned to the study, an empty room greeted her. A sudden sense of premonition settled over her, and she instantly suppressed it. He might have retired to his chamber, or he might have been doing some other activity in another parlor somewhere in the house, she told herself. Still, she couldn't help but quicken her pace as she rushed through the house, desperate to find him as soon as possible."Edward, where's my husband?" She asked when she came across the butler in the corridor. The butler halted and bowed."His Grace has left the house a few minutes ago, Your Grace."Her heart immediately missed a beat."What?! Where?""I
